Monthly Archives: January 2014

I got a notice from WordPress saying “Happy Anniversary” “You registered with WordPress 7 Years ago!”. What? 7 YEARS AGO?? Years. I had a few blogs here over that time …published then deleted them…until finally this past year I decided to just stop deleting my words. I wish I could get back some of my writing from those other blogs now. Yes, I still have the thoughts that come sometimes when getting ready to hit publish, but I have learned to shift my focus off of the fear and think about who may want to read this and not about who doesn’t. My intention is for this to be a motivational space and a resource about Yoga….its not all going to be good – its not all going to resonate with everyone. Sometimes I will want to delete it…or keep something safe in draft mode for months 🙂

So how can you just hit publish and start losing the fear?

Ask yourself:

What do I get creatively out of building this blog up and what do I hope people will get out of reading it?? What do I appreciate from other peoples blogs and what would I miss if they weren’t there? What do I want to say? Why am I censoring myself if I am called to write? What do I bring in my own unique way?

Think about how many blogs or videos and articles you read and don’t comment on OR like…yet you do get inspiration from them. Just because no one comments or hits ” like” doesn’t mean you aren’t making a difference to someone. 🙂 So…Write for you and write for the people who are reading your stuff.

Instead of thinking about the worst that could happen – we can start to ask ourselves – what is the best that could happen?

I have been reading some articles about people getting hurt in Yoga over the past year and they are asking about the safety of Yoga for “everyone”. What really comes to my mind here is the “power” of a regular practice. Also, choosing the class and the teacher that works best for you. It is often hard to allow ourselves to be a beginner at things and this includes our yoga practice. Its a practice in itself to recognize our own limits and boundaries and honor what we can do today…right now.

If people only do Yoga once a week and take a very “vigorous” class they may be pushing the body much further than it is ready for. Sort of a “Weekend Warrior” approach to Yoga… I get it. Most of us work and are trying to squeeze in as much as we can on our time off. I work full time then teach yoga 2-3 times a week so believe me when I say I get it! 🙂 🙂 It can be soooo tough to get it all in… Ultimately, it is a life long practice and some poses may take years to get close to getting into if at all for the majority of people. Some days we may feel we can’t hold a simple pose to save our life… However, the good thing is we don’t have to be defeated by these things, but possibly could be relieved by them! It can take the pressure off a bit. We are human after all!

I finally learned to ask myself questions about why I wanted to do a certain pose? Why do I feel I need to? If I can’t do every pose am I still good enough? Is doing this pose going to make me a better teacher? What is working well? Can I accept I don’t have the strength yet? Acceptance and letting go – detaching from the outcome – is kind of a big deal. Yes, it can be humbling.
It can also keep us safe.

I can be competitive with myself and I have strained a bicep pushing myself to go ahead with more repetitions. This is the lesson of the practice – to listen to our own body. The body can be pushed around by the mind… I have to come back to this idea frequently…

Patanjali teaches us to find and practice “steadiness and ease” in our poses – “Sthira and Sukham” – that takes sooooo much practice to slow down enough to work with the breath and stop when we are not ready to go further. He speaks to this from the general sitting for meditation and it extends to all the poses. I think it extends also to how we come to the mat in general. Find steadiness with a building a regular yoga and meditation practice. Find ease by letting your practice be shorter if needed, more restorative if and when needed, releasing judgement, not comparing to others, understand and LOVE that yoga is more than asana and most of all …finding space for breath.

The best thing we can do is keep coming to the mat and building consistency…as Pattahbi Jois said “Practice and all is coming”…

Great post about transformation from someone who took my Yoga class. This girl has spunk & will be a great Yoga teacher! I am honored by the “mention” in this post! This is yet another reason why I teach….meeting inspiring students, teachers and Teachers in training! Although…aren’t we Yoga teachers ALL Always teachers in training ?? Yoga is a lifetime practice – keep learning & growing. 🙂
She has written an honest , real blog post here about her journey….Enjoy!!!